Yesterday it was announced that Panini will produce basketball cards here in America. No more Topps or Upper Deck. Tons of bloggers have already posted about this and the way they feel. Many of them feel it's great that Topps and UD are getting challenged by other companies. This challenged should have been happening years ago, not just with basketball, but in all the sports.
A lot of bloggers also feel that Panini will destroy the basketball card industry. Just exactly how will they destroy it? By not having autographed cards or jersey cards? Please. I'll give the fact that Panini doesn't have a few of the worldwide superstars to use (Lebron with UD), but they might already be in talks about getting Lebron, or even be working with UD to be allowed to produce Lebron cards. Panini is a business, they'll get it together.
Face it, sports cards have been ruined for at least a decade now, if not longer. The people cards used to be catered to (read: kids), can barely afford packs just because the older generation are trying to cash in on triple event used relics of Kevin McHale's jockstrap from the 1983 Photo-shoot. Topps is no longer the company they once were. They make some nice Products, but for the most part, their stuff isn't great. The company lives off name brand only. Hell, for my 21st birthday last year I received a retail box of 2007-2008 NBA Series 1 Basketball. The cards were nice, but very cookie cutter and boring. And don't get on me for getting a retail box, it was a gift from my parents. Upper Deck (at least to me) makes better basketball cards, but nothing special either. My favorite set has been Hardcourt, and that's a mediocre set at best.
Panini is going to ruin the basketball industry because they are European company. What? They will produce basketball cards and get the NBA name-brand out overseas. It's already out there now. Shit, Greece team Olympiacos wants to sign Kobe or Lebron. You tell me people don't know the NBA? Panini will not ruin the basketball card industry, you bloggers and collectors will ruin the b-ball card industry by talking it down and not buying the product because you aren't sure what Panini is about. Look at it this way, Panini might even help America. People buying these cards might be more inclined to buy NBA merchandise and travel here to see the teams.
I'm all for Panini to make cards. Will they make stickers, sure they probably will. Do you have to buy them, no. There's another company that specializes in Football (Soccer) cards in Europe called Futera. I've blogged about them before. Their high end set (Futera Unique Football) caters to overseas collectors (read: American), by adding 1/1 auto's and memorabilia on the cards. If you think these companies don't know that not having these kinds of inserts in their sets will be good, you are crazy.
I'm very excited for Panini to start making basketball cards, because frankly this industry sucks and could use any sort of fresh air it can get. And if they do fail miserably (as in, nobody buys the cards) then it wasn't their fault, they tried, it'd all just come down to the collector being just as stubborn as the manufacturer's they love to hate.
Showing posts with label Futera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Futera. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is a retired French Football (Soccer) player. He has worn the shirt of many prestigious clubs such as Juventus, Real Madrid, and his national country, France. Zidane, or Zizou, is to many football fanatics to be a World Class Legend. However, most people remember Zizou for his antics at the 2006 World Cup.
The match was the Final in the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy. Both clubs are littered with talent, but Zidane is miles beyond all of the players. 2006 was his final appearance on the International stage for Les Bleus. Unfortunately for Zidane, he was sent off for his headbutt on Materazzi.
While searching Ebay for my quest to own a Zidane card, I came across his 2007 Futera dual jersey card (/175) of his. At the time, the card was currently going for $6 with shipping at $3.50.
I was very shocked to say the least and this card would easily have been a centerpiece of my collection. Both jersey swatches are from two different jerseys (Juventus and Real Madrid), and with a very low serial number (not 1/1 like the listing said), this card is a must have for any Zidane fan. And a must have it was.
Well, the listing ended, and I was very much out of the running when it was all said and done at $66 even. 15 bids were put in for this card, and not one of them was mine because I set my ceiling at $30.
Hopefully another Zidane jersey card is put on Ebay sometime soon, and maybe, just maybe I can win it.
The match was the Final in the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy. Both clubs are littered with talent, but Zidane is miles beyond all of the players. 2006 was his final appearance on the International stage for Les Bleus. Unfortunately for Zidane, he was sent off for his headbutt on Materazzi.
While searching Ebay for my quest to own a Zidane card, I came across his 2007 Futera dual jersey card (/175) of his. At the time, the card was currently going for $6 with shipping at $3.50.
I was very shocked to say the least and this card would easily have been a centerpiece of my collection. Both jersey swatches are from two different jerseys (Juventus and Real Madrid), and with a very low serial number (not 1/1 like the listing said), this card is a must have for any Zidane fan. And a must have it was.
Well, the listing ended, and I was very much out of the running when it was all said and done at $66 even. 15 bids were put in for this card, and not one of them was mine because I set my ceiling at $30.
Hopefully another Zidane jersey card is put on Ebay sometime soon, and maybe, just maybe I can win it.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The New Wave of Football Cards
Late last night, I was searching everywhere to find Futera cards to purchase. After witnessing the box breaks of Unique (a post below), I wanted to bust some of the packs pretty bad.
The first step in achieving this would be to find out where to buy the cards State-side. Futera's web-site doesn't really offer much help in that regard, mostly due to them updating the site.
The next logical step was to contact them about information regarding purchasing in the United States. What I received back this morning was a complete shock. Not only did I get a reply, but I received it from the CEO of the Company.
Here is the email:
The new game that is talked about reminds me of the Japanese game WCCF. Some of those cards fetch top dollar on Ebay. Plus the addition of memorabilia cards in the set is something I always thought would be a good inclusion.
Also part of the emails were attachments for the new game, which are shown below:
This set features 350 base cards and 50 Future Stars for a total of 400 cards. That's quite a big set, but seeing as how it's players from around the world, with such a huge array of footballers it's probably pretty tough to narrow it down to 400.
There are two main insert sets, Heroes (1:12 packs) and Legends (1:50 packs). The memorabilia set is just six cards, not serial numbered. One of which is French stricker (and Barcelona foward) Theirry Henry. These cards are (1:100 packs). It'll be very interesting to see how much money these memorabilia cards sell for since they aren't numbered, but seeded (on average) 1:100 packs.
I plan on testing the online game out sometime this week, with even a possibility of tonight.
Once again, I'd like to thank Gwyneth Glascodine to take the time out and answer my questions.
The first step in achieving this would be to find out where to buy the cards State-side. Futera's web-site doesn't really offer much help in that regard, mostly due to them updating the site.
The next logical step was to contact them about information regarding purchasing in the United States. What I received back this morning was a complete shock. Not only did I get a reply, but I received it from the CEO of the Company.
Here is the email:
Hi, Andy
Great to hear from you, and thank you for taking the time to write to us, really appreciate it.
Yes, we ship internationally, and we’d be very pleased to send you some details about the collections.
Right now we’re into the production of our new World Football Online Game Card Collection which is an interactive online football game using the trading cards which carry codes enabling different player card ratings and ‘power play’. The Collection also features Limited Edition Memorabilia Cards of top international soccer players. We’re scheduled to run a Trial Tournament of the Game in a few weeks’ time (January) where people can get a chance to ‘play for free’ and get a general feel of the game. The actual Card Collection and the full Game is due to release mid February. We’re actually going to give EVERYONE 15 free cards to start with anyway, so everyone CAN still play for free when we launch. Obviously the more rare cards are randomly inserted in packs to hunt for and collect which will help improve your team’s winning chances, but we hope many people will be able to enjoy this new trading card game which we believe brings a new, unique dimension to the hobby.
We’re currently updating our website with information, checklists and facts about the historic Futera collections together with sample pictures of some of the cards from each collection since the brand started around 20 years ago... so that might be of interest to you. And we’ve also got a Collectors’ Forum where people can discuss things, ask questions, find answers, trade/swap/buy cards....
If you can bear with me for a few weeks whilst we get through the launch of the new collection, I’d be pleased to try to put together some information about the collections/card/history of Futera and its cards – if there is specific information/detail you would like please email me so that we know how best to be of help to you.
I hope the above is of some help/interest to you; please let me know if I can be of further assistance, Andy.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us, and have a great Christmas!
Kind regards,
Gwyneth Glascodine
CEO
Futera FZ LLC
The new game that is talked about reminds me of the Japanese game WCCF. Some of those cards fetch top dollar on Ebay. Plus the addition of memorabilia cards in the set is something I always thought would be a good inclusion.
Also part of the emails were attachments for the new game, which are shown below:
This set features 350 base cards and 50 Future Stars for a total of 400 cards. That's quite a big set, but seeing as how it's players from around the world, with such a huge array of footballers it's probably pretty tough to narrow it down to 400.
There are two main insert sets, Heroes (1:12 packs) and Legends (1:50 packs). The memorabilia set is just six cards, not serial numbered. One of which is French stricker (and Barcelona foward) Theirry Henry. These cards are (1:100 packs). It'll be very interesting to see how much money these memorabilia cards sell for since they aren't numbered, but seeded (on average) 1:100 packs.
I plan on testing the online game out sometime this week, with even a possibility of tonight.
Once again, I'd like to thank Gwyneth Glascodine to take the time out and answer my questions.
Futera, The Way Sports Cards Should Be.
In my time of being a soccer (football) fan, I've never really been able to purchase cards of my favorite players that are currently playing. All I've ever found were Football Champions, which I've covered on this blog. However, last night while scouring Ebay for Alessandro Del Piero (best Central Foward ever) and Zinedine Zidane (best midfielder ever) items, I came across some game used cards of other players. I had never seen such cards, and did a bit more research. Turns out, the cards are made by a company called Futera, who in the early 90's dabbled in MLB and NBA cards as well as Football.
The first thing I did was search Ebay to see if I could buy a box of this stuff. Unfortunately, I was not able to find what I was looking for. Right after this miss, I scoured Youtube for a bit, when I came across a Futera set called World Football. To me this set would most likely be a mid to high level set.
What's neat about World Football, is that the 2007 set is 200 cards deep, and every player featured is in their National (Country) Team Jersey. Of course, there are the jersey and autographed chase cards in there as well. The 2007 set had a print run of 6900 boxes, and all are hand numbered.
Here is one of the cards you can find in this set, a game used swatch of French Midfielder, Claude Makelele. The card is numbered to /275.
The second set I came across I believe would be the end all of sports card sets if it were produced in America. It is called Futera Unique World Football. So you could get an idea of what this is comparable to in America, I'd go with Exquisite, on crack. There are quite a few of these cards on Ebay currently, and are priced very high, but then again so are the boxes. I went right to Youtube to see if I could find any breaks of this set, and was lucky enough to find a couple of videos all done by the same person, whom I have contacted and will be putting his box breaks on this site in the next post.
Example of a Futera Unique Card below, former Tottenham Manager, and favorite of mine, Martin Jol. Jol is now the coach for German team Hamburg, who have been simply dominating in the Bundesliga. I'm glad for Martin as he didn't deserve to get fired by Spurs and the evil empire that was Levy/Comolli.
This card is surrounded by a Gold Plate and a 1/1 stamp on the bottom right. The back of the card is Jol's autograph, written on the WHOLE CARD. Unbelievable card.
Having the urge to break any Futera Product, I emailed Futera directly about if they shipped to card stores in the United States. I didn't expect a reply due to it being nearly Christmas time coupled with the fact that they probably receive these emails all of the time. What I did get though, was a direct response from their CEO, Gwyneth Glascodine, which I will also post a little later. Not only am I shocked that the CEO of the company would directly respond to my inquiries, but I'm very appreciative of this, and wish the heads of American Card Companies would do the same to the many bloggers and customers out there. Thank you very much Gwyneth.
The first thing I did was search Ebay to see if I could buy a box of this stuff. Unfortunately, I was not able to find what I was looking for. Right after this miss, I scoured Youtube for a bit, when I came across a Futera set called World Football. To me this set would most likely be a mid to high level set.
What's neat about World Football, is that the 2007 set is 200 cards deep, and every player featured is in their National (Country) Team Jersey. Of course, there are the jersey and autographed chase cards in there as well. The 2007 set had a print run of 6900 boxes, and all are hand numbered.
Here is one of the cards you can find in this set, a game used swatch of French Midfielder, Claude Makelele. The card is numbered to /275.
The second set I came across I believe would be the end all of sports card sets if it were produced in America. It is called Futera Unique World Football. So you could get an idea of what this is comparable to in America, I'd go with Exquisite, on crack. There are quite a few of these cards on Ebay currently, and are priced very high, but then again so are the boxes. I went right to Youtube to see if I could find any breaks of this set, and was lucky enough to find a couple of videos all done by the same person, whom I have contacted and will be putting his box breaks on this site in the next post.
Example of a Futera Unique Card below, former Tottenham Manager, and favorite of mine, Martin Jol. Jol is now the coach for German team Hamburg, who have been simply dominating in the Bundesliga. I'm glad for Martin as he didn't deserve to get fired by Spurs and the evil empire that was Levy/Comolli.
This card is surrounded by a Gold Plate and a 1/1 stamp on the bottom right. The back of the card is Jol's autograph, written on the WHOLE CARD. Unbelievable card.
Having the urge to break any Futera Product, I emailed Futera directly about if they shipped to card stores in the United States. I didn't expect a reply due to it being nearly Christmas time coupled with the fact that they probably receive these emails all of the time. What I did get though, was a direct response from their CEO, Gwyneth Glascodine, which I will also post a little later. Not only am I shocked that the CEO of the company would directly respond to my inquiries, but I'm very appreciative of this, and wish the heads of American Card Companies would do the same to the many bloggers and customers out there. Thank you very much Gwyneth.
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